"For many small- to medium-sized businesses, the key differentiator between their enterprises and those of large companies is their ability to deliver exceptional customer service," says Michael Emaus, CEO of eEnterprise (www.eEnterprise.com), a division of NetSuite global reseller Skyytek Worldwide. "Yet as those businesses grow, they often find it difficult to maintain the internal communication necessary to successfully serve their customer bases. When the capability for effective customer service management erodes, so does the profitability of the enterprise."

According to Emaus, growing companies can maintain their customer service advantage by implementing an integrated solution like NetSuite, the world's leading on-demand, Web-based business management software. "NetSuite integrates back-office operations with front-office activities, while providing employees with varying levels of access necessary for their job functions," he says. "The information is made available on customer 'dashboards' that can reveal customizable information, such as key performance indicators and report snapshots, which allow managers to gauge the health of any given customer relationship."

Best of all, NetSuite can track all points of contact between a company's sales force and its customers. "This snapshot enables anyone to quickly review the events, tasks, and calls that have taken place and that are scheduled to close a deal," says Emaus. "And, when a sale requires a team effort, the activities of each team member are available to more efficiently and effectively make the sale."

Further, because NetSuite integrates customer transactions native to a company's CRM product, customer service representatives are aided by historic transaction and upsell opportunities. "This functionality encourages the opportunity to support and grow sales through enhanced customer service capabilities," notes Emaus.

While it's inevitable that customer complaints will arise, with an integrated CRM system, those complaints won't fall through the cracks. "NetSuite has a closed-loop process that ensures that problems will be effectively tracked and resolved," says Emaus. "This is light years ahead of manual tracking, and moreover, NetSuite even allows customers to follow the resolution process through a self-service portal."

For many companies, customer service begins with the prospecting phase of sales. NetSuite recognizes this, and has integrated several functions to more quickly turn website visitors into customers. By giving businesses the capability to customize their website's search function and to receive reports on frequent searches and results returned, company owners can keep their fingers on the pulse of their customers and potential customers.

Moreover, with companies increasingly relying on paid search keyword campaigns to market their products and services, it's important for businesses to know which keyword campaigns are generating both leads and revenue. "NetSuite recognizes that more traffic doesn't necessarily mean more sales, and that tracking the effectiveness of keyword campaigns is crucial to the bottom line," says Emaus.

Emaus concludes, "Regardless of the size of an enterprise, fully integrated customer service management is critical to both growth and profitability. NetSuite ensures that CRM is both streamlined and effective."